Tribute To Uncle Greg

I have to be honest.  It has been a rough week.  Last Tuesday, my Uncle Greg went to be with the Lord.  Chris and I were really close to Greg and so this hit us pretty hard.  Greg was only 43 years old and he has a beautiful family that resides in Ohio.  

Death is really hard for me.  I don't like the pain that is caused by death.  My heart hurts for his wife, children, father and sisters.  I know that God has a plan, but it is really hard to see what His plan entails at this point.  

We were able to spend time with our family which always helps when grieving to loss of a loved one.  The viewing was on Saturday and Sunday and I have never seen so many people come to show their respect to Greg and the family.  The Memorial Service was on Monday and the church was packed.  Greg made a huge impact on the people he knew and it was neat to remember his life in this way.  

Greg and Nancy have been our role models for a long time.  We look up to them in many ways. 

The family is CRAZY!  Here is a family picture that was taken in the fall.  I love all of them so much and I miss my Uncle.

On February 15, 2009 (two days before he passed away) Greg and his family came to Indiana to meet Tegegn.  We are so happy that Tegegn was able to meet his Great Uncle.  While the family was here, Tegegn would not let anyone else feed him or hold him other than Greg.  Greg will always hold a special place in Tegegn's heart. 

I am thankful that Greg was my uncle and that he was a part of my life.  I will cherish all of my memories and will continue to trust in the Lord because I know that He does not make any mistakes.  

More Favorite Photos

I thought it was time to update the blog with some of my favorite pictures.  I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!

Tegegn showed no emotion when we pulled him in the sled.  I have to admit that I don't think that he was able to move so that might have had something to do with it.  Since he is a bit short, we had to put hair ties at the bottom of the snow suit because he did not fill it all out yet.

Some mother and son quiet time.

Tegegn did a face plant in the snow and could not move , so he just laid there.  I don't think that he was super excited that I took a picture before I cleaned it off his face.  Oh well!  I think the picture was worth it.

One night this past week we were getting ready for bath time and as we were taking off his shirt he loved having it stuck on his head.  He seriously was a wild little boy for 15 minutes with a crazy shirt stuck on his head.  He thought it was great - silly boy!

Tegegn LOVES driving with his daddy.  I intentionally dressed him in his vest after I knew that Chris was wearing his.  I am glad that they didn't mind sharing the same fashion for the day.  

Happy Valentine's Day!  

My Boys

I have to tell you that I can't get enough of our son.  Whenever we are together as a family it makes me happy.  I seriously want to be with him and Chris all of the time because they make me smile.    This week we are in our normal routine and it went better than anticipated.  I think it helps me knowing that he is with his grandma's while we are at work.

Every night around 7:15pm Chris and I start chanting - Bath Time, Bath Time...Tegegn starts flapping his arms because he loves it and understands what we are saying.

This play mat has been our saving grace when it comes to changing Tegegn's diaper because it keeps him entertained.  I think most people use these for infants, but not the Ponslers!  

I think that one of Tegegn's favorite things to do is slobber.  He has been slobbering nonstop since we met him on December 15.  We now own more bibs than clothes.  

We were biting this block for at least 20 minutes and he thought it was so funny.  I love his laugh.  

Tegegn loves his Daddy.  He laughs really hard when Chris puts his nose on his tummy and sometimes he even snorts.  

Here is a shout out to my friend Ashley who will be induced on Monday night - Although I have no idea what you are experiencing with the pregnancy, the end result is the same and nothing compares to being a mother.  It is amazing!  You are in our prayers!

Sleep?

Been a while.  Everything has been going really well.  We have talked to a social worker with CWA and she gave us some tips on helping him sleep better.  It has been working a little better.  We are getting a solid 6 hrs without waking (knock on wood) so I think this is helping all of us.  He has been such a joy.  He is incredibly good during the day, spending full days with both grandma's this week. They tell us he is doing great as well.  Hopefully he hasn't convinced them to cover for him yet.  We went to church for the first time since getting back on Sunday and it felt so good!  We missed it but we wanted to ease him into everything.  A surprise to us he spent the entire service in the nursery without us.  Sarah was planning to stay with him but as soon as we got there he jumped down and crawled right over to all the stuffed animals.  We are so lucky to have an awesome nursery with only 4-5 kids so he gets a lot of attention.   To everyone's surprise we have been staying busy on the weekends.  We had a chance this last weekend to spend the night Greg, Cari, and Elli's.  We had so much fun and it was great to just hang out, catch up, see Chris and Ehrin and their kids.  I can't wait until all the kids are running around and we can go camping and take trips together.  For some reason I don't think that is far away.  Both Elli and Tegegn LOVE Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and if your kids haven't heard the Hot Dog song and dance at the end of the show, it's worth checking out. Elli and Tegegn love dancing to this song.  We were already talking about our first trip to Disney World.  

We spent a few hours at the Ghion Hotel one day while in Ethiopia and someone decided he was a little tired!

We have mentioned before how flexible he is.  Those are his feet. 

We were having a little fun with Photo Booth on the MAC.  Someone was enjoying seeing himself on the screen, and Tegegn was having fun too.

Someone thinks it's funny to squint now when we take his picture.

This was on the flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.  Poor little guys had his arm wrapped in a sling thanks to the pediatrician who helped us out, pooped all over dad's pants, we all smelled horrible, and we hadn't even taken off yet.  Needless to say the guy beside me kept his headphones on the entire flight.